The Shark and the Mermaid
by SakuraSamuraiGirl
Summary: The love between a shark and a mermaid (short story).


Katekyo Hitman Reborn

The Shark and the Mermaid

SakuraSamuraiGirl

* * *

Katekyo Hitman Reborn story and characters belong to Akira Amano

* * *

Story inspired by the song, "The Shark and the Mermaid" by Billie Myers

* * *

Somewhere in the vastness of the oceans there is a secret magical island. Around the island the water is warm and full of life. The water is blue and clear and there was a great expanse of coral that rivaled the size of the island it surrounded. The coral forest is filled with color that rivals that of a rainbow. It is home to many tropical fish and mammals. One of those special creatures that took residents in this magnificent environment was the mers.

The mers lived comfortably in two groups. There were the coral-mers that inspired the romantic fairytales from their beauty in appearance and in song with the lower halves of fish. The deep-water mers were more violent and vicious cousins of the coral-mers. The lived in the colder and darker parts of the ocean and fed on fish and other animals for meat while the coral-mers ate kelp and occasionally fruit. Their lower halves were of the predatory sharks and whale the ocean. Coral-mers kept to themselves and were afraid of the deep-water mers. They feared that they would eat them.

Tsunami was a coral-mer of sixteen-years. She was unusually small for a female, but she didn't care. Tsunami made sure to stay as close to the shallows as she could to avoid the deep, dark water farther away from her home. Tsunami was easily pushed around by the stronger coral-mers when it came to searching and feeding for kelp. She was able to grow her own kelp garden hidden away from the main coral beds. A second home was built inland on the island where she also ate from the fruit of trees whose branches were so heavy with fruit that the trees bent and its branches hung just over the surface of the water where sea cuts into the island. Fortunately the island didn't house any humans or any large predators that could hurt her.

From time to time, items from the distant lands would float on and on until it got to the island. Some of the items were poked at and collected by those lucky enough to find it first. A thing that was learned to be avoided was netting, heavy plastic or barrels filled with something strange that burned or choked them. The coral-mers would swim back and forth before these items to use the currents to push them out to deeper waters away from their beautiful bright homes.

One day Tsunami had been napping on the beach. It had been another wonderful peaceful warm day. Not even other coral-mers had bothered her! She was woken by a sharp splash on the surface. Tsunami is jerked out of her sleep and she looked out to sea and was stunned. The waves pushed a mer's body onto the beach. The mer was trapped in quite a combo of a hazard. It was some sort of yellow netting made of plastic. The mer growled as he fought his hardest to get out but his arms were strapped to his chest. Tsunami made soothing sounds as she walked towards her fellow mer with her arms, using her tail to push her forward across the soft sands. Getting closer she found that the mer's scales was rather dull. It was gray and in fact there weren't any scales at all. He was smooth. But despite his appearance, Tsunami tugged at the netting to pull it off the mer.

She pulled and tugged until her hands were red and raw. Her hands were plunged into the ocean to ease the pain though the salt stung a bit. The bound mer struggled again. Tsunami took a deep breath and returned to the task. To give them both patience and to soothe them, Tsunami sang. The singing stilled the mer and his cold-gray eyes watched her lips.

The sun was about to slip below the horizon when sore and bleeding hands, Tsunami loosened a knot and the mer pushed and pulled against the netting until it fell off his shoulders. With a delighted sound, despite the pain in her hands she helped the mer pull the net down his body and over his tail. With the netting gone, Tsunami realized the mer wasn't a coral-mer. He was a deep-water mer! He had pale-white skin that merged with the dark gray skin of his shark tail. Tsunami was fascinated by his long white hair. She reached out and ran her hands through it, tracing the strands down his shoulders and down to the shark fin of his tail. The male deep-water mer watched her in silence and took his turn to observe her. She had fluffy long hair, not as long as his. Being out in the sun had dried it where it had become a bit of a poof that suited her adorably. Her skin was nicely tan but none too dark. Her fish-tail was of a golden-orange goldfish with gossamer-like fins. Bright brown eyes met silver. She smiled at him, he blushed in return.

Tsunami and the mer, Squalo, slept in her coral bed together that very evening.

Squalo was cared for by Tsunami being fed kelp and fruit. Kelp was rejected but the fruit was acceptable. She had gone to get more fruit for him and when she returned he was gone. Tsunami searched for Squalo for hours till she went to the beach where she had met him. She cried over a piece of fruit she kept that she wanted him to try. Suddenly a large tuna was thrown at her. With a yelp she pushed it away. It was pushed back towards her by Squalo. He was tackled onto his back by Tsunami who cried tears of happiness and relief. After settling down, Squalo tore apart the tuna and handed Tsunami a small piece. Tsunami gulped and gingerly took the tuna. Squalo watched her with narrowed eyes. With her eyes squeezed shut she popped the tuna into her mouth and chewed. The tuna actually tasted good and it was picked at with excited discovery. The deep-water mer smirked proudly as he lied before her as she enjoyed the meal he caught, while he took the fruit she had and ate it.

Coral-mers weren't built for deep-sea swimming. For swimming long distances (if there was a need) coral-mers swim close to the surface. So besotted with Squalo, Tsunami had once attempted to follow Squalo to the darker blue waters. Tsunami didn't want to be without her new friend. The water was too cold and the depth too heavy for her. Squalo would swim her back to her home coral patch and would hum promises that he would come back. He had to hunt and the fish that they ate together was further out across the water. Squalo promised that he would return, swore on his life that he would return. Tsunami stayed in the coral shallows and watched the sea for Squalo's return like a maiden waiting for her lover to return from war. Squalo was only gone for a few hours and he did return with an armful of tuna. He is welcomed with splashing, hugs and kisses. He scolded her for worrying but blushed from the loving greeting. They ate snuggled together fruit, kelp and tuna.

For a time, Squalo had thought Tsunami would get bored of him. That she had the attention-span of a dolphin that had discovered something new and would move on to something more interesting. She would find some handsome brighter colored coral-mer. Yet, she stayed with him for days and days turned into weeks. She sung to him as she combed his hair either with her fingers or the bones of their dinners. Her company was welcomed. Deep-water mers lived in groups but were aggressive even towards each other and when it comes to food. The gentleness of a coral-mer was a very nice change. So he enjoyed her as long as she stayed near which in time appeared to not to be ending.

Fellow coral-mers finally noticed that Tsunami hadn't been seen gathering kelp behind themlike usual. The two of the coral-mers, Kyoko and Haru that actually cared for Tsunami, went out to check on her. They located her home away from the coral beds and called for her. It took a minute for Tsunami to be roused and eventually she heard their calls and greeted. Kyoko and Haru were greatly relieved that she was alive and much healthier looking than before. Her scales gleamed brilliantly and they admired them much to Tsunami's embarrassment. The reunion was abruptly paused when Squalo came from the sea toward them. Kyoko and Haru panicked and swam away but Tsunami to their horror didn't swim with them but out to Squalo…and embraced him. Squalo returned the embrace and their tails intertwined to hold each other closer. The coral-mers watched stunned as Tsunami swam around Squalo happily. Squalo had something new for her, a very large crab as big as Tsunami's torso. Tsunami's friends watched from a safe distance as Squalo and Tsunami settled inland of the island upon the rocky shore near a waterfall and the fruit trees heavy with fruit. All sorts of birds and monkeys around them enjoyed the bounty. Kyoko and Haru winced as the deep-water mer tore the crab's legs and claws off. He ended the crab's misery when he used his large sharp teeth to break into the hard shell. With the crab dead, Squalo went back to one of the crab legs and broke it open and revealed thick white meat inside. He put the leg in his mouth and sucked the meat out. With another leg he opened it and gave it to Tsunami. Haru squeaked and Kyoko gasped as Tsunami followed Squalo's example and eats the crab. Tsunami made a pleased sound and Squalo grinned. Kyoko swam to Tsunami and sat beside her. She is offered a leg by Tsunami. Tentatively, Kyoko took the leg and nibbled off a piece of meat. Crabs were rather mean-spirited sea creatures; they weren't as friendly as the fish that lived with the coral-mers, so maybe it was okay. Kyoko swallowed, thought over about the taste and brightened. Haru was pulled into the feast and she too enjoyed it. Squalo rolled his eyes that these pretty goldfishes never thought to eat crab.

Tsunami and Squalo didn't hide their fast-growing relationship from any of the mers. Soon after Kyoko and Haru's discovery, it had reached the ears of the coral and deep-water mers that they were together. Most of the coral-mers were disgusted that Tsunami dined with a deep-water mer (completely ignoring that Kyoko and Haru had tasted other sea creatures). She was completely ignored by them and wasn't allowed to visit the main coral beds where they dwell. Tsunami didn't care.

Squalo was laughed at by his fellow deep-water mers. Some thought he had gone soft, but Squalo showed that he hadn't lost his bite. There were deep-water mers that had gone to the island to inspect this coral-mer, close "friends" of Squalo. They thought Tsunami was nice to look at…almost tasty, but their taste for her flesh was rerouted when in her warm kindness offered them fruit and kelp. The kelp was rejected, but the fruit was acceptable. Squalo didn't like sharing Tsunami with his "friends" but they treated her better than the coral-mers and at least she was protected from other deep-water mers if they gotten too curious or too hungry.

Finally, the mers got bored with poking fun at the both of them. It was then Tsunami and Squalo decided something. The waters had gotten warmer in the coral beds. The whales and dolphins returned to give birth to their offspring. The fishes sought out mates doing their dances, building good homes or giving their all in fighting for mating right. Squalo was more affectionate than a deep-water mer should be. He blamed the warmth of the water. Squalo realized that Tsunami's scales were brighter, her fins and tail longer and silkier. Squalo was unable to stop touching her. She looked tastier and he would gently caress her body with his teeth. Tsunami's affection for Squalo had changed slightly as well. Her kisses were sweeter and her lips traveled away from his cheeks to his lips. Her kelp garden had grown tall and thick, thick enough for a bit of privacy. At last, Squalo then learned to like kelp.

Mers said that the two would eventually get bored of each other. Or that Squalo would hurt Tsunami and scare her away. It never happened proving them all wrong. Tsunami and Squalo stayed together for years. Eventually mers stopped talking about them, especially when a very large great white mer, Xanxus, took an interest into Tsunami's friend Kyoko. Another deep-water mer, another "friend" of Squalo's, a tiger shark had been teasing and chasing Tsunami's other friend Haru. Squalo and Tsunami had a little bit more alone time together. Later, it wouldn't be just the two of them. Tsunami later revealed that the two of them would become three.


End file.
